The Backup
by Star Vortex
Summary: Project Faithful was the backup plan. The last resort. It wasn't supposed to be activated. But when successful, Faithful leaves a monstrously violent Thanator and Toruk on the Face of Pandora, and their bizzare fights must be figured out. OCxOC, kinda.
1. Prologue

_The man in the white lab coat turned from his puzzlement over the computer, which had been going on for two solid hours, to the other man in the lab coat._

"_Man, this is crazy. Didn't the boss know that there's only a 51-49% favor that this'll work?"_

"_Of course he did; that's why it's called a last resort. And now, a last resort is what we need. There's a planeload of traitors to this operation, and that's one planeload too many."_

"_Yeah, but isn't this a bit… drastic?"_

"_I say again; it's a last resort. The woman's been unconscious for the last thirteen years, counting the ride here, but her brain seems to be active. And if it does work, she'll thank us."_

"_You sure she would? The girl was seven when the accident happened. And what about the boy? He was only conscious for three years, and he's fifteen now. Why do they have to use vegetables? And __**young**__ ones, at that?"_

"_Because young subjects will have no learned values or loyalties, and we can transfer those in."_

"_I still don't get it, but I don't need to. But why are we just putting them into position? Shouldn't we, like, __**do**__ the thing?"_

"_Because it's a __**last resort**__. We're 89.3% done downloading memories and loyalties into them. From there, they'll be hooked up to everything. They won't wake, but everything that happens will be fed into their brains. Every breakthrough the scientists make, every log the Avatars make, every move the security camera's see, every computerized order that goes out, they'll know about it."_

"_Great. Anything else?"_

"_We've downloaded hundreds of possible mission possibilities into them, each depending on their situation."_

"_What do you mean by that?"_

"_They're hooked up to everything, so they'll know if anything goes wrong. If the power shuts down, if the Na'Vi launch a base attack, if anything shuts down the operation completely or beyond repair, the computer will sift through the mission possibilities, find which one is appropriate, prioritize it, and wake them up. At that point, thing will be too dangerous for their regular bodies, so the computer will download them to their new body permanently."_

"_Wow. That's some intense stuff."_

"_I know. Let's pray they a day like that never comes. For their sake, let's pray."_


	2. Awaken

The moment she woke, all Hell broke loose.

_Running. Bullies closing in behind her. Didn't see the car. Didn't feel anything._

_She had to get out._

_The halls of the Base flooded through her, twenty years of recording tearing at her like glass._

_She had to get out._

_She couldn't see, couldn't hear, there was nothing but faces, missions, video logs._

_She had to get out. She had to get out __**now.**_

She flipped, the blue liquid around her churning. Her heart seemed like it was trying to kill her.

_Tree of Souls. Tree of Voices. Hometree. Thanator. Banshee. Great Leonopteryx. Neytiri. Na'vi. The People. Eywa._

_Three forces were battling inside her, fighting for control._

_She could break down like the little girl she knew she should be._

_She could do the mission like she knew she told to._

_Or she could surrender to the animal that would spare her pain._

_She had to escape the tank._

_She had to stay in and take in all the memories._

_She had to cry for help._

She couldn't tell what was up and what was down. She threw herself in a direction and hit wall. She snarled, shaking her head as her vision was obscured by bubbles. She smashed her paw against the glass and dragged it down, her claws leaving deep scores on its surface.

_That was it. That was how she was going to escape._

_No. She had to stay in the tank or something bad would happen._

She didn't know what was going on. She just had to get out. She struck the tank again and again, until finally, with a shatter and an explosion of water, she exploded into air.

Something was wrong with the air. It was too thin; there wasn't enough there for her to breathe.

There was a screech that sounded like it could shatter walls, and she spun around. the creature was twice as big as her, with a vaguely avian look. It was a fiery read, with black and blue fire-patterns along its body.

_Great Leonopteryx._

Her animal brain and mission clashed. The one in front of her was in her mission. He was important. Her mission involved killing someone. The Animal matched them together, and the information, the first real thing that She worked out for herself, imprinted into her forever. Her mission was bits and puzzles floating around her, just out of reach. She had taken two random pieces and forced them together.

She needed to kill the Great Leonopteryx.

She bunched up her six legs and leaped. Her disorientation didn't let her even extend her claws, so she slammed into it. She then realized that they were in a space that allowed her to merely stand up, and her back scraped against the ceiling, sending plaster down. The Leonopteryx couldn't even get to his full height, and She used that to her full advantage. He could hardly move, and she kept drilling him. They both knew that if they stayed they would suffocate, but neither of them were mentally coherent enough to care.

But somehow, miraculously, they exploded through the roof. They didn't know how long it took; it could have been an eternity, it could have been a heartbeat. But by the time they were free, both of them were weak from lack of breath and from their wounds. The writhing mass broke, and they ran in opposite directions.

_Away. Away from the pain._

_Back. Back to what you're supposed to do._

Something in her snapped, and two of the forces were silenced. Only the Animal remained.

She ran. She ran over asphalt, over metal shards that sliced at her paws, over the wreckages of battles passed.

_Into the forest. Into the wild. Where you belong._

She broke into the trees, but didn't stop or slow. Run, that was all she knew to do.

_That scent. Another one. Long since gone._

She passed a long shack about twice her length. One of its windows were broken. She passed a dead Thanator.

_Thanator. A Thanator. That is a Thanator. You are a Thanator. It is dead._

_What now?_

_It is dead. Take over its territory._

Her instincts carried her through the forest effortlessly. She found the scent trail. She found the dead Thanator's den. She slowed a hundred yards from it and pushed her way inside. She couldn't see anything, and didn't care to. She saw a nest in a corner, and all but fell into it.

She was unconscious before she hit it.


End file.
